The Christadelphians are a community of Bible believers established in the middle of the 19th century. Our name means “Brethren of Christ” although our membership is made up of men and women.
Christadelphians are bound together by our common faith in the gospel preached by Christ and his apostles in the first century. We can trace groups with similar beliefs back through history. We are organized into local groups known as "ecclesias" (from a Greek word that is often translated as "church"). The work of an ecclesia is done by volunteers; there is no paid clergy and no central authority other than the Bible.
The Christadelphian faith rests solely on the Bible as the inspired Word of God. We read from it every day to become thoroughly familiar with it so that the teachings it contains can govern our lives.
Basing our beliefs firmly on the whole Bible, we believe it teaches:
- That God has a plan and purpose with the earth
- That Jesus was His son whom He sent to give us the ability to escape death and the hope of everlasting life
- That it should change our lives from following our own natural desires to following those which please God
- That this change follows baptism when we enter a life of service to God, hoping for acceptance by Christ when he returns
- That Christ will return to set up the Kingdom of his Father on earth
- The Kingdom will be centred in Israel with Jerusalem as the capital
- Those who please God now will be made immortal and help Christ govern the world in peace
- Christ will reign as king over all the earth and all people and nations will be subject to him.
Why do we tell other people about our beliefs?
Because that is what Jesus and the Apostle did. They taught the gospel – “good news” as the word gospel means – about what Christ did through his death and of God's coming kingdom on the earth, and the way all of us can be part of it. We believe the gospel to be so important that we also want to tell others about it, so that they, like us, can look forward to the great hope of eternal life that it offers.